Otherside

“After school?” Stormy wrote out the note quickly on a scrap of paper and balled it up discreetly. After a brief glance up to make sure the coast was clear she hurled the ball of paper across her American history class with a practiced hand. It appeared at first like she would hit her mark so close. Oh no. 

The angle of the throw was a little too low, the ball bounced off her friend Willow’s shoulder and changed direction, landing on Mark’s desk. Mark was probably her least favorite person in the world. He was tall, beefy, and stupid. He had a wide, permanently wrinkled forehead, cropped brown hair, and a certain passion for picking fights with Stormy.

Mark grinned mischievously, holding up the ball of paper between two thick fingers and winked at Stormy. Stormy gritted her teeth. 

“Willow,” she hissed, pointing at her friend. “Give it to Willow.” 

Mark made a show of unballing the piece of paper. Stormy glared at him, she couldn’t stand him. He held out the note and read it, his eyebrows shooting up and his mouth forming a dramatic ‘o’. He balled the paper back up with a flourish and dropped it in the pocket of his letterman jacket. Stormy glared at him until the bell rang. 

“What are you two lesbians doing after school?” Mark sneered as soon as he could catch up with Stormy and Willow in the crowded hallway.

“None of your business, neanderthal,” Stormy growled. She balled up her fists, looking up to stare him in the eye. He laughed in her face.

“It’s weird how often you two are together, you’d think you would just make it official already.” Willow rolled her dark eyes, grabbing Stormy by the arm and steering her in the opposite direction. 

“Stop projecting on us,” Willow called over her shoulder, leaving Mark with a very confused expression as he tried to understand what that meant.

“He’s as stupid as he is mean,” Stormy sighed as they walked towards their next class together. The locker-lined corridors were crowded with other students who were heading to their next class, laughing and chatting amongst their friends. 

“You need to stop picking fights,” Willow said, crossing her arms. She gave Stormy a knowing look, her long sheet of dark hair framing her face. She raised an eyebrow. “You’re just as bad as he is. What was on the note?” Stormy smiled widely. 

“After school?” She asked hopefully. Willow frowned. 

“C’mon Stormy you know I don’t want to do that anymore.” Stormy pouted.

“Aww, Willow, don’t make me beg.” Willow just stared at her, looking unimpressed. 

“We were almost caught last time,” Willow argued. Stormy rolled her eyes.

“We’ll be more careful!” Stormy whined. “Besides, you want to do it too, I know you do.” Willow knew Stormy would keep nettling her until she agreed. They had been friends too long. It was easier to just give in. Besides, Stormy had a point. 

“Fine,” Willow relented. “But just one more time.” She had said that last time. And the time before that. Stormy’s face split into a grin, dimples forming on her cheeks.

It was hard for Stormy to focus on schoolwork for the rest of the day, now that she had something to look forward to. She wasn’t the only one having difficulties. Today being Friday coupled with the fact that tomorrow was Halloween meant attention spans were at an all time low.

They met at the usual place after school. Centennial Park was their chosen meeting place for two reasons. First, it was old as dirt and most of the play equipment was rusted beyond repair. A new park had opened on the other side of town years ago leaving Centennial to rot forgotten.

The second reason they met at Centennial was the thickly overgrown forest bordering the park. It was labeled as a ‘nature preserve’ but Stormy was pretty sure that was just an excuse for the city to not be responsible for the cost of landscaping. The few leaves that remained on the trees were various shades of deep red and yellow. 

There was a slight sloshing sound as wet leaves squashed under Stormy’s shoes. The grass and weeds here typically grew to about ankle height before anyone did anything about them. Stormy saw Willow standing alone among the clusters of small saplings at the edge of the treeline. She was only visible because the orange-and-black striped sweater she was wearing for Halloween clashed heavily with the monochromatic scenery.

“Here,” Stormy said holding out her hand, a black scrunchie dangling off her finger. Willow looked mildly surprised. She hadn’t seen that scrunchie in probably six months, since the last time.

“You kept that on you this whole time?” Willow asked, taking the scrunchie and tying up her long dark hair in a messy bun. Stormy shrugged. 

“I just remember your hair always got caught in the branches,” Stormy said dismissively. “I’ve kept the salt in my bag too, just in case.” 

“Great,” Willow said. They fell into a comfortable silence while trudging through the layers of decaying leaves and fallen branches that composed the forest floor. 

They walked until they were deep in the forest. The air was humid here even though it had been hours since the last rain. The damp, slightly musty scent of fallen leaves mixed with the earthy smell of wet tree trunks and moss. Birdsong rang out near and far, unseen frogs croaked, and insects buzzed. Willow threw out an arm, grabbing Stormy’s hand to stop her.

“Here,” Willow said, her palm sweaty in Stormy’s hand. Willow licked her dry lips. “I can feel it… The barrier is a bit thinner here.”

Stormy reached into her bag and pulled out the salt. It was just a generic iodized tabletop version from the grocery store, but Willow had assured her the brand didn’t matter. She poured the salt on the ground generously forming a wide circle. Stormy took a step back and watched as Willow knelt to the ground in the center of the circle and placed a hand on the damp earth. 

For a few moments, nothing happened. Suddenly, Willow threw her head back and groaned. Her face was pale and covered in a sheen of sweat. The ground below her appeared to ripple and swirl around her. The swirling inside the circle grew faster and faster until the leaves and branches on the ground were nothing but a black blur. 

A greyish shape began to emerge from the black void of spinning earth. At first, just the hunch of a back, then four short legs and a wagging tail. Finally, the little dog pulled its head out of the earth and shook, its ears flapping. It looked at Stormy and let out a distant, hollow bark. 

“Oh, Biscuit! I missed you!” Stormy cried out, dropping to her knees and reaching into the salt circle to pet her late dog. His fur felt strange on her hands, more solid than smoke but not by much. He felt cool and fluid, as if she were stroking water but her hands remained dry. 

“He couldn’t wait to surface,” Willow said. Her position was unchanged, she was still kneeling, a palm on the blackened ground. It almost looked as if she were hovering over a black hole.

“I’ve missed him so much, I can’t believe it’s been five years that he’s been gone. He still remembers me!” Biscuit was jumping around and yelping excitedly, scratching at the edges of the salt circle with his ghostly paws. 

“He spends a lot of time around you, I can feel him from time to time. Can you?” Willow asked. Stormy frowned. 

“No,” Stormy answered honestly. Willow had a special appreciation for these types of things. Stormy had been her best friend since they were six years old and had watched this strange ability develop over time. 

What the adults in their life credited as imaginary friends and an overactive imagination in Willow were actually spirits. Willow had a lot of trouble in the beginning sorting out who was real and who wasn’t. She relied on Stormy heavily in those younger years. As she aged she developed a better control over blocking out intrusive spirits and focusing on living people.

It was on her tenth birthday she discovered a new ability. She had always noticed some places the spirits were louder than others. These ‘thin’ areas were places where she could easily channel her energy and create a temporary opening to a different realm, a place she called the ‘Otherside’. She had done it the first time by accident during a sleepover and nearly scared Stormy to death.

“What does it feel like?” Stormy asked as birds and chipmunks erupted from the ground around Biscuit, their cries sounded like distant echoes in the forest. Willow considered her for a moment, wispy grey birds circling around her head, trapped by the salt. 

“When I feel that we’re in a thin spot it’s hard to ignore the spirits calling for me. They want me to create a hole. They can be very persuasive. Not making a hole is like ignoring an itch. It’s annoying but I can manage it. When I finally give in, like now, it’s just, I can’t describe it.” Stormy nodded and watched as a silvery fox and three plump rabbits emerged from the ground. 

“This is so amazing to watch,” Stormy sighed as Biscuit howled and started chasing the rabbits around the circle. Willow scrunched her eyebrows together, kneeling closer to the blackened ground. A hand emerged from the void.

“Time to close up, this spirit is fighting me too hard,” Willow breathed. “She’s persistent.” 

“Oh, it’s a woman?” Stormy asked calmly, surveying the hand that was now desperately clawing at the earth. It wasn’t uncommon for human spirits to try to emerge from the openings Willow created. Willow never allowed them to pass. She said humans got too strange once they crossed over. 

“Yes, and she’s very upset about something,” Willow said. A forearm emerged, and then the second hand. “Say goodbye to Biscuit, I’m going to release the connection.”

“Bye Biscuit,” Stormy said sadly, looking down at her late dog. The head of the woman emerged with a bit of torso. She opened her mouth and let out a far-away wail. 

“Mom?!” A male voice exclaimed. Thundering footsteps sounded, twigs breaking with every footfall. Stormy looked up in alarm to see Mark barreling out from behind a tree. 

“You were spying on us?” Stormy accused. Mark acted like he hadn’t heard her. He stopped outside the circle, staring at the woman’s form with wide eyes. His breath came out in shaky gasps.

“Mom,” Mark breathed, the word forming a fleeting mist in the cool fall air that was hardly more substantial than the spirit before him. He reached out a shaky hand, but Stormy stopped him. 

“That’s not your mom, Mark,” Willow said darkly. Mark wrenched his eyes from the spirit before him to glare at Willow. 

“I know my mom when I see her,” he sneered. He readdressed the spirit before them, who was clawing at the earth, her midsection still sunken into the ground. “Mom, what is this? I thought you were dead. I don’t care, you’re coming home, I missed you-” Mark tried to take a step inside the salt circle, but Stormy grabbed his arm. 

“No, Mark,” she exclaimed, digging her heels into the soft ground. “You can’t stand inside the circle! Close it, Willow!” 

“I’m trying,” Willow grunted, a look of incredible determination on her face. 

Sparks flew out from where Willow’s hand touched the ground. Biscuit vanished first, sucked into the dirt inside the circle as if it were a vacuum. Next, the chipmunk and birds. The woman was sucked back down to her shoulders. Mark realized what was happening and easily shoved Stormy aside, where she fell face-first into the dirt. 

Willow screamed, and Stormy looked up just in time to see Mark step into the circle and grab the woman’s hands. As soon as he crossed the threshold of the circle he took on the misty, semisolid appearance of the woman. Faster than she thought possible he was sucked down into the earth, firmly holding onto the woman’s hands as the connection broke. His body remained, laying on the ground next to Willow as if he were asleep. 

Stormy crawled over to Mark’s form and slapped his face a few times. “Wake up!” Stormy yelled. She grabbed his limp shoulders and shook him violently, his head hitting against the ground with a dull thud. 

“He won’t wake,” Willow said quietly. She crawled forward and put a shaky hand on Stormy’s shoulder. “His consciousness followed that spirit to the Otherside.”

“Is he gone forever?” Stormy asked. Willow was silent for a moment.

“I can still feel him, but he’s far away. He feels the same as any other spirit. He’s not here anymore.” 

“What are we going to do?” Stormy whispered. Willow shook her head.

“I don’t know. His body won’t survive long like this. This is all my fault. I.. I have to bring him back.” 

“How?” Stormy asked. 

“If I don’t stay grounded I’ll be sucked into the Otherside. That’s why I always have to keep a hand on the earth. I’ll just let myself fall in, find Mark, and come back.”

“That sounds dangerous,” Stormy protested.

“I can’t leave him to die. I won’t be responsible for his death.” 

“I’m coming with you,” Stormy said. 

“Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous. You will stay here, you will be safe in this forest until I come back.” Stormy pouted, but Willow shook her head. “This is serious, Stormy. I don’t want you to get hurt.” 

“Fine,” Stormy sighed, crossing her arms. She made a show of taking a few steps back from the circle. 

“Just watch after my body until I get back,” Willow said. Willow knelt and put her hand on the ground. 

Quicker than last time the ground began quavering and spinning. Willow felt the hole opening to the Otherside and heard the spirits calling for her louder than ever before. It’s like they knew she was about to join them.

 Willow drew her breath in and mentally prepared to lift her hand and allow herself to fall through. She was about to say a quick goodbye to Stormy when something collided with her. She opened her eyes in shock, catching a quick glimpse of Stormy before everything went black. 

---

Falling through the hole to the Otherside didn’t feel like what Stormy had imagined. She did not experience the traditional sensation of falling down until you hit solid ground which she had expected. It was more of a brisk pull sideways through icy water which never ended. She had braced herself for an impact which did not come.

Eventually Stormy relaxed and opened her eyes. Thick fog hung heavily in the air obscuring her vision past a few feet. She sat herself up slowly and tried to make sense of things. Her mind felt fuzzy and her thoughts were slow.

“Stormy?” Willow’s voice rang out, sounding like a distant echo. Stormy looked down to see Willow lying on the ground a few feet from her. When her eyes fell on Willow, Stormy let out a scream. 

An eerie, semi-luminescent glow seemed to overtake Willow’s features. It was hard to describe, but Willow didn’t look as solid as a person should look. If Stormy looked hard enough she could see the faint shadows of the ground through Willow’s torso. Stormy held out a hand and saw that her own fingers were emitting the same sort of glow. 

“What’s wrong with us?” Stormy asked, her own voice sounding hollow and far away in a way it never had before. 

“We’re spirits, Stormy,” Willow said, sitting herself up and looking around. The long, dark strands of hair that had escaped her bun floated up around her head as if she were under water. 

“Where are we?” Stormy asked, looking around the foggy landscape. 

“We’re in the Otherside,” Willow responded, slowly getting to her feet. “It looks about the same as I expected.” Stormy got up too, feeling cracked, dry dirt under her hands. 

“Where’s the forest?” Stormy asked, trying to see anything through the fog. “The ground is different.”

“Of course it’s different,” Willow sighed, grabbing her hand. “Stick with me, okay? I don’t want to lose you.” They began walking through the fog. 

“You’re not mad at me for following you?” Stormy asked hopefully. Willow spared her an annoyed glance.

“There’s no helping that now, we need to focus on finding Mark and getting back home.” A yelp sounded in the distance followed by the raucous footfalls of something running for them.  Stormy gasped, quickly turning her head to the sound.

Emerging from the fog was Biscuit, glowing and semitransluscent of course but very happy to see her nevertheless. Stormy instinctively held out her hands and Biscuit jumped into her arms. He felt cool to the touch but infinitely more solid than before. She felt every wiry hair as he nuzzled into her arms. 

“Oh Biscuit,” she sighed, resting her head against his. “I’m never leaving you again!” Willow frowned. 

“Don’t talk like that. Come on, we need to focus here.” Stormy sighed, holding Biscuit with one arm and taking Willow’s hand again. They walked for an indeterminate amount of time. The very concept of time seemed alien here in this strange, foggy world. Eventually they emerged from the fog onto a sandy shore. 

Stormy looked down in alarm, feeling her feet sink into the sand. When did the hard, dried earth become replaced with sand? She turned around and saw no fog, just sand as far as her eyes could see. 

Willow looked unsurprised by this change in scenery. She walked to the shoreline, the waves extending out and moving with the tide. She peered into the water before turning to Stormy.

“He’s down there,” Willow said calmly.

“How can you be sure?” Stormy asked, tilting her head to the side as she examined the water. 

“He feels different than everything else,” she paused for a moment. “Like us, he doesn’t belong here.” 

“Why are we on the beach?” Stormy asked. 

“Mark’s mom loved the ocean.” 

“I didn’t realize each spirit had their own area here.” Stormy said, watching a crab scuttle along the sand. “So a spirit can change this world to reflect their likes?”

“I’m not sure it’s a conscious decision the spirit makes,” Willow explained. “It has more to do with what the makeup is of their soul when they die, I think.” 

“Then what spirit lived in the space with all the fog?” Stormy asked. She hadn’t seen any spirits there, except for Biscuit of course. 

“No spirit resides there. It’s more like the foyer, I guess you could say, and each spirit has a room.” 

“How do you know all this?” 

“I don’t know,” Willow answered honestly, shaking her head. “Everything just makes sense to me here, more sense than it ever made back home. I can see with such clarity here.” 

“Well, I’m glad I’m with you,” Stormy finally said. “I feel like I would be wandering around that fog forever if I wasn’t with you.” 

“I think that’s the point of the fog, Stormy.” 

“So what’s next?” 

“We swim to the bottom, I suppose.” 

“How will we breathe?” Willow raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t need to breathe here, Stormy. You didn’t realize that?” Stormy stared at her with open amazement. Willow shook her head slowly, a smile on her lips. She jumped into the water without another word. 

“Hey! Willow!” Stormy yelled before jumping in after her. 

Although Stormy could see the clear water all around her she didn’t have the accompanying shock from jumping into water she was used to. Being submerged felt no different on her skin than standing on the beach. Biscuit didn’t mind it, either. He was as relaxed in her arm as he was before her jump. She followed Willow down, easily swimming with one arm.

Neither girl tired as they swam through the water in a span of time that could have as easily been an hour as a minute. Air bubbles and small fish passed them as they effortlessly cut through the water. An enormous boulder became visible, resting on the sandy floor and covered in green patches of moss and seaweed. 

The familiar, ghostly form of Mark’s mom became visible, standing next to a thick patch of seaweed. Her hair rippled and fanned out around her as she stood on the flat surface of the boulder. Her hair was fanning out so much, in fact, that it quickly became apparent something was trapped in it. 

Stormy, Willow, and Biscuit swam closer and could clearly see the long hair extending from the spirit’s head turned into thick tendrils of seaweed at her shoulders. The seaweed was wrapped up tightly around Mark’s form; only his head was still visible. 

“Mark!” Stormy yelled, easily landing on the surface of the boulder and taking a step towards him. Biscuit jumped out of her arms and crouched in front of her, emitting a distant growl at Mark’s mom. 

“Stormy!” Mark called, struggling against the seaweed that bound him. “What is going on?” He demanded. 

“We’re in the Otherside you dolt! We came here to save your ass!”

“I have no idea what that means!”

“The spirit world, Mark,” Willow replied, her echoing voice chiming in from just behind Stormy. “We don’t have a lot of time left, I can feel it.” She held out her hand as if to demonstrate her point, and Stormy noticed with a jolt of panic that Willow’s hand was almost completely translucent.

“I just wanted to see some hot lesbian action! I had no idea you guys were up to, up to,” he struggled as he fought to find the right word to fit their crime. “Necromancy!” He finally decided on, spitting out the last word like a swear. Willow flinched as if he had struck her.

A loud hiss sounded from Mark’s mom, making the girls jump back. She was staring at Stormy and Willow with clouded over eyes, sharp teeth jutting out of her mouth at odd angles. Stormy was reminded of an anglerfish with a shudder. She had been so absorbed in restraining Mark she hadn’t noticed their arrival until now. 

Mark let out a loud groan as a tendril of seaweed wrapped tightly around his mouth, effectively gagging him. 

“Friends of yours?” Mark’s mom said, her voice sounding undeniably sweet and human, probably similar to how it had sounded when she lived. Mark struggled harder against the seaweed binding him, grunting with the effort. “I’ll see if I can find room for them.”

Seaweed shot out in the direction of Stormy and Willow like a bullet. Willow grabbed Stormy and spun her around so Willow’s back was facing the seaweed. The seaweed stopped with a loud crack a few inches from Willow and bent as if it hit an invisible shield. Mark’s mom howled with pain. 

“It’s easy for me to manipulate this world,” Willow breathed, grabbing Stormy’s hand and running. The seaweed followed, the tips pointed like daggers and cutting through the water with incredible speed and agility.

Holding hands, the girls jumped over a piece of petrified driftwood that had settled on the surface of the boulder, the seaweed just inches behind them. The seaweed tendrils hit the wood and smashed it into dust just behind them. 

They were trying to get closer to Mark but the seaweed kept diverting them. Biscuit had understood what they were trying to do and stood by Mark, biting at the seaweed and pulling to try to free him. Mark’s mom was so engrossed in the chase she didn’t even notice. 

Stormy’s foot slipped over a patch of moss and she went down, a look of terror on her face. Willow screamed, holding out her hand to try to shield her. She was too slow in forming her shield. Every tendril of seaweed was stopped except for one which pierced clear through Willow’s outstretched hand, cutting through the flesh as easily as butter. Black blood leaked out of the wound and spattered the ground.

The smell of blood seemed to drive Mark’s mom over the edge. She let out a guttural wail, holding her head in her hands, driven completely mad by the scent. Mark had freed a leg and an arm and was frantically grabbing at the pieces of seaweed that still bound him, trying to pull himself free with a renewed desperation. 

Willow pulled Stormy up and they ran for it. A trail of blood splatters were left behind them from Willow’s injured hand. The tendrils of seaweed clung to the ground, absorbing the blood. As they drank the blood the seaweed seemed to swell, becoming larger and stronger. 

Mark’s mom clawed at her face in ecstasy, shrieking as she received her first taste of blood, completely beside herself. She was looking more monstrous by the second. Her skin had started to take on a scaly, shiny appearance and gills were visible on her neck. 

Stormy and Willow arrived to Mark just as Biscuit pulled the last piece of seaweed off of him. Biscuit ran and jumped into Stormy’s awaiting arms, licking her face. Willow wasted no time, throwing her arms over Mark and Stormy and everything went black.

Instead of a sideways pull through icy water Stormy experienced what could only be described as what it must feel like to be sucked up and pushed out of a hairdryer. Everything was so loud and hot and dry, air rushed past them at a deafening volume. 

The wind was knocked out of her as her spirit reentered her body. Stormy breathed in a shaky breath, her lungs sore from lack of use. She felt Willow’s warm body under her but wasn’t ready to move yet. She kept her eyes shut tight and listened. She heard nothing but the sounds of the forest for a few moments until Mark interrupted her serenity with a string of curses. 

Stormy got up slowly, her body aching. Mark laid in the salt circle in the same position Stormy had left him in. His eyes were open but he seemed too terrified to move. Willow grunted and stirred, sitting up as well. Mark remained unmoving, his eyes wide.

Stormy looked to Willow, concern in her eyes. Willow shook her head. “Give him a minute,” she whispered.

“My dead mom just tried to eat me,” Mark finally said, his tone defeated. 

“Mark,” Willow said, not unkindly. “Human spirits warp and grow strange on the Otherside. I don’t understand why, but it’s not your fault.” 

“My dead mom just tried to eat me,” Mark repeated, staring at the sky. Willow sighed.

“He might take some time,” she said to Stormy. She was going to say something else but her voice died in her throat when she noticed the way Stormy was looking at her. Stormy was staring at her with such intensity she felt like a flower wilting in the sun. 

“You saved me,” Stormy breathed, the full extent of their adventures on the Otherside returning to her. “You were brilliant.” 

Willow flushed, at a loss for what to say. She didn’t get a chance to articulate her thoughts because the next thing she knew Stormy had thrown herself against her, their lips glued together. Stormy felt like fire as she wrapped her arms around her, kissing her with such intensity that for a moment nothing else existed in the world apart from them. 

They separated and Stormy gazed at her with wide eyes, as if she had surprised even herself. Willow smiled and kissed her again quickly. Stormy beamed at her. 

“That helps, thanks,” Mark said, his head had lifted off the ground a fraction of an inch to watch Stormy and Willow’s exchange. He sighed, letting his head fall back on the ground with a dull thud. “I’m still in moral distress over here though. My dead mom just tried to eat me.”

Stormy and Willow looked at each other and couldn’t help but bust out in laughter. A small yelp sounded, catching their attention. Stormy gasped as she realized Biscuit had been laying next to them, fast asleep this whole time. 

He was not the ghostly, glowing form she had carried around the Otherside but Biscuit as she remembered him, wiry fur, wet nose, and a beating heart. He jumped into Stormy’s arms and licked her, his tongue warm and wet and undeniably alive. She looked to Willow with wide eyes, who was looking back at her with a similar shocked expression. 

“How?” Stormy whispered, clutching Biscuit close to her chest. Willow shook her head, staring at her hands in confusion.

“I have no idea, Stormy,” Willow said in disbelief. “I must have dragged him back from the Otherside with us without realizing it. I… I didn’t know I could do that.” 

“I was holding him when you pulled us back,” Stormy said, trying to remember exactly what had happened. She noticed that even though it was just moments before she already had trouble recalling the details of their adventure. Everything was very blurry in her mind. 

“He’s certainly alive and whole,” Willow said, brushing her hand down his back. Biscuit barked happily, lifting a leg to scratch behind his ear. Stormy smiled at Willow.

“Thank you, Willow,” Stormy said, placing Biscuit on the ground to stretch his legs. Willow smiled shyly back. 

“It wont reverse my trauma, but another kiss would probably help ease my pain,” Mark said, lifting his head off the ground to watch Stormy and Willow. “My dead mom just tried to eat me,” he repeated. They laughed.

“Screw you, Mark,” Stormy said, standing up and offering her hand to Willow who accepted it. “Let’s go home.” 

“I’d like that,” Willow said, Biscuit right at their heels. 

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1. THIS IS INSANE! What a twist! (no pun intended) I’m blown away. Great job!

2. I enjoyed your story, You are very creative and amusing. Keep up the good work.

3. This one is my favorite so far! Really cool story

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